President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he will seek a second White House term in 2024, a decision that will test whether Americans are ready to give the 80-year-old Democrat, already the oldest US president ever, another four years in office.
Biden made his announcement in a slickly produced video released by his new campaign team, in which he declares it is his job to defend American democracy.
“When I ran for president four years ago, I said we’re in a battle for the soul of America, and we still are,” Biden said. “This is not a time to be complacent. That’s why I’m running for re-election.” “Let’s finish this job. I know we can,” he said.
Biden described Republican platforms as threats to American freedom, vowing to fight efforts to limit women’s healthcare, cut Social Security and ban books, reports Reuters.
In the two years since he took over from Trump, Biden won Congress’ approval for billions of dollars in federal funds to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic and for new infrastructure, and oversaw the lowest levels of unemployment since 1969, although a 40-year high in inflation has marred his economic record.
Biden’s age makes his re-election bid a historic and risky gamble for the Democratic Party, which faces a tough election map to hold the Senate in 2024 and is the minority in the House of Representatives now.
Biden’s approval ratings were stuck at just 39% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on April 19 and there are steep concerns about his age among some Americans; he would be 86 by the end of a prospective second term, almost a decade higher than the average US male’s life expectancy.
Biden will be joined in his 2024 quest by his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
